My Depression Connection Question of the Week!

It is Tuesday and that means it is time for a new question of the week.

There are many words which describe having depression.
Sometimes the word "depression" is used interchangeably with mood disorder.
Then there are other more subjective synonyms such as melancholic, unhappy, or in emotional distress.

My question for you is:
Do you feel that depression is a mental illness?
And do you regard suffering from depression to mean that you are mentally ill?

Mental Illness can be a loaded term and some people are not so fond of equating depression with mental illness.

A few years ago, the author of the blog, Furious Seasons, posed this question to his readers and the responses were very interesting. Some commenters were not in agreement that depression should be considered a mental illness.
One reason given is that depression is "too common" to be considered a mental illness.

So what do you think?
Are we simply playing with semantics?
Do you think that it is important to categorize depression as a mental illness so that it can receive funding for research and be taken seriously?
Should depression be considered a mental illness just like schizophrenia is?
Is depression more aptly described as a mental disorder or even a medical illness?
There are many questions about this term based on personal, societal, and clinical definitions.